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Discussion Forum : Scriptures and Doctrine : Is there humor in heaven?

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White_Stone
Member



Joined: 2008/10/25
Posts: 1196
North Central Florida

 Re:

What Jesus did while on earth, that is not in the Holy Scripture is not essential to salvation and (speaking for both my Husband and myself) I am cautious to the point of abstaining to venture into any conjecture about if He laughed, smiled or anything else.

As for what will be in Heaven, as long as I am with Him - nothing else matters.

I do not mean anything hard against anyone for thinking of those things but for our family we feel it is safer to err on the side of being too cautious. Just something to think about. I believe times are coming when none of us will be smiling.

white stone


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Janice

 2008/11/15 19:38Profile
davidt
Member



Joined: 2006/5/21
Posts: 327


 Re:

White,

White stone possibly referring to the white stone with a new name on it? I agree with this caution to an extent. I think there are some things that be drawn out through logic I wouldn't want to go to an extreme. I think though that we mainly talked about scriptures. I also agree with the fact that nothing else matters in heaven but it should to some extent. For instance Jesus offers us rewards in heaven for works of sacrifice here on this earth now. Or also Adam was given a garden to enjoy. As for not smiling this is true in a sense but I also think that during time of tribulation this will be when we have the most joy because the Spirit of God and of glory will rest upon us. But, I think I understand what you are saying that we will be sad and not that we wont have joy at all you are just making an emphatic point I believe. I did watch one Jesus film and I didn't like the way they presumed he did certain things.

 2008/11/15 20:19Profile
White_Stone
Member



Joined: 2008/10/25
Posts: 1196
North Central Florida

 Re: the white stone with a new name on it - that's what I want

Hello Davidt,

Thank you for seeing the essence of my post and taking no offense where none was intended. Sharing a viewpoint with a fellow Christian is something worth smiling over.

Best regards,
white stone


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Janice

 2008/11/15 20:47Profile
KathleenP
Member



Joined: 2008/4/3
Posts: 228
Maine

 Re:

This truly has been a wonderful thread and I think we can probably all agree that the deeper we go in our Christian walks, the less we consider funny. I believe it was Keith Daniel who said,"The Lord knows how to take the joke out of a man."

Isaiah 53:3 describes Jesus as a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief...yet I'm sure He radiated peace and joy throughout his life. I don't exactly know how to explain it, but when I was backslidden, I was the queen of joking and foolishness. People expected the "joke of the day" when I arrived on the scene and there was much laughter. I always held the scripture from proverbs, that even in laughter, the heart is exceeding sorrowful. It was the truth and must have shown, because people would ask me why I wasn't smiling or that I should smile more.

Now here is the mystery of godly joy; I have wept more in the past seven years since my return to Lord than in all my life, but people compliment only my smile instead of asking why I look angry or frown. There must be a true joy that is reaped from tears.

Foolishness is a whole different story and I do get the impression that everyone is in agreement that it isn't pleasing to the Lord. I see how easy it is with simple jesting, especially with the inconverted, things can veer into dangerous areas. I think someone mentioned that on another thread. Joking is almost always laced with lies and cruelty.

I vote for joy unspeakable and full of glory. I have no greater joy than enjoying sweet fellowship with brothers and sisters that want only to speak of Jesus. Now that puts a smile on my face. :-)


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Kathleen

 2008/11/15 21:18Profile
davidt
Member



Joined: 2006/5/21
Posts: 327


 Re:

Quote:
I don't exactly know how to explain it, but when I was backslidden, I was the queen of joking and foolishness. People expected the "joke of the day" when I arrived on the scene and there was much laughter. I always held the scripture from proverbs, that even in laughter, the heart is exceeding sorrowful. It was the truth and must have shown, because people would ask me why I wasn't smiling or that I should smile more. Now here is the mystery of godly joy; I have wept more in the past seven years since my return to Lord than in all my life, but people compliment only my smile instead of asking why I look angry or frown. There must be a true joy that is reaped from tears.


Kathleen,

Wow! That is so great! We can have laughter in a sinful state and be sad. In contrast we can have sorrow in a righteous state and be joyful. INDEED, what an unfathomed mystery. Thank you so much for sharing that it was wonderful :) HalleluJAH!

It reminds me of when I was very first saved or that Keith Green song where he sings, "people smile at me and want to be just as I am". I also had these verses come to mind:

1Pe 1:8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and [b]rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory[/b],

Isa 6:3 And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is [b]full of his glory[/b]!"

1Pe 4:13-14 But [b]rejoice[/b] insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also [b]rejoice[/b] and be glad when his [b]glory[/b] is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of [b]glory[/b] and of God rests upon you.

p.s. Yes I am sure we all agree that foolishness is folly and the joy of the Lord is the right way.

 2008/11/15 22:15Profile
KathleenP
Member



Joined: 2008/4/3
Posts: 228
Maine

 Re:

Amen and amen DavidT.

And speaking of joy, the smile on Keith Green's face spoke volumes and I believe he was continually anguishing over many areas in his life.

Praise the Lord forever.


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Kathleen

 2008/11/15 22:24Profile
davidt
Member



Joined: 2006/5/21
Posts: 327


 Re:

Yeah amen :).

 2008/11/15 22:26Profile
rbanks
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Joined: 2008/6/19
Posts: 1330


 Re:

Sister Kathleen & bro. David amen!

Look what God did in his apostles while they suffered so much pain and hardship. Look how they didn't complain about how they got a bad wrap all because they were serving God. Look how they began to bring joyful praise and singing to their great God. Look at what God did, shook the earth, open up the prison bars. Look how they even led the jailer to Christ!

Ac 16:22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
Ac 16:23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
Ac 16:24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
Ac 16:25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
Ac 16:26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
Ac 16:27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
Ac 16:28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
Ac 16:29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
Ac 16:30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Ac 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Ac 16:32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.

 2008/11/15 22:36Profile
MrBillPro
Member



Joined: 2005/2/24
Posts: 3422
Texas

 Re:

Laughter must be a part of heaven, just as weeping will be a part of hell. They are opposites, and what is absent from one is present in the other. Rob heaven of laughter, and you drag it nearer the abode of the lost. If God laughs, why should His children be deprived of laughter in His presence. Luther said he would not wish to go to heaven if God did not understand a joke. The Bible reveals that God does laugh, and laughter is already a part of heaven. Look at the three references to God's laughter in the Psalms.

1. Psalm 2:4 "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision." 2. Psalm 37:13 "The Lord laughs at the wicked, for He sees that his day is coming." 3. Psalm 59:8 "But Thou, O Lord, dost laugh at them...."

God laughs in scorn at the pathetic folly of puny men trying to outwit Him, and challenge His authority. It is the laughter of great superiority. Men trying to plot against God are as silly as nats plotting to attack a tank. It is a joke. It is funny when the weak do not recognize their weakness, and try to use it, as if it were a strength. We have here the humor that makes the husband laugh when his wife tries to overpower him. I have exploded in laughter, as Lavonne, in grim determination, has tired to push me onto the bed, or into a pool. It is the laughter of a parent, when a small child tries to, by sheer force, get it's will done in defiance of theirs. It tickles the funny bone, and you cannot help but laugh.

God cannot help but laugh at the folly of men trying to defy His power. This kind of laughter will cease, for men will no longer be trying such folly in eternity. But the point is, it reveals God's nature, and a sense of humor is a part of it. God is not a machine or a stone. He is a person, and is affected by the reality of humor. God never changes in His nature, and thus we know, He will have a sense of humor forever. In Eccles. 3:4, it says there is a time to weep and a time to laugh. In this life the times vary and alternate. But John says there will be no more weeping in heaven. Therefore, it will be a time for laughter. This does not mean we will spend eternity in laughter, but it does mean, we will spend it in a state of joy, where laughter is always potential.

Humor has been abused and vulgarized by the sinful nature of man. But the abuse of anything is not to be allowed to rob us of it's proper use. Sam Shoemaker in his book, Under New Management, writes, "How many of you still have a sneaking suspicion that religion and humor don't mix-that you can be humorous until you mention God, but then you must be solemn? This is heresy-but there are thousands who believe it, and by their solemn piety drive people away from the stream of life!"

We need to think more seriously about the nature of humor to grasp it's importance in the nature of God. If I can laugh at the monkey's, little children, and other funny things of life, but God cannot, then it would mean, I have a positive quality of character that God does not have. This, of course, can never be, for I am made in His image. Laughter must either be a part of that image, or be a result of the breaking of that image in the fall. Since all agree that a sense of humor is a positive quality in man, we have to conclude, it is a quality of God's nature, and will be eternal.

If the angels rejoice over every sinner who repents, I am sure that God the Father and the Son do not sit in solemn silence, but join the celebration. The father of the Prodigal Son called for a celebration when his son returned, and they began to make merry. If that father could go out and sulk with the elder son, and not enter into the joy and laughter of the party, then we would have a picture opposite of what Jesus gives us. He portrays this father, who represents God, as entering fully into the joy and laughter of the celebration. It can be assumed that God will do so in the eternal celebration of heaven.

I link laughter to joy, because it is almost impossible to conceive of a joyous banquet, where there is no laughter. Laughter is a part of a joyous time. It is not likely you would call any occasion joyous, if there was no laughter. If you could sit at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and never laugh, you would be able to say, this is great, but I remember a time on earth that was even greater. You can count on it, there will be no memories in heaven, that recall times on earth of greater joy and laughter. If laughter is not a part of heaven, it will lack a value we all treasure in time. This can never be.
Pastor Glenn Pease


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Bill

 2008/11/15 22:41Profile
davidt
Member



Joined: 2006/5/21
Posts: 327


 Re:

Quote:
Look how they began to bring joyful praise and singing to their great God. Look at what God did,


Banks,

Yeah wow I see how the 2 go together here. When the Apostles are tried and tested and down they rejoice in faith by the Holy Spirit beyond human strength to conjure up joy and God honor's this aroma and He breaks in with a witness. They were preaching with their lives in faith by joy and glorified God and God aligned with their testimony and shook the very foundations of mans authority to where even the man in charge bows glory to God from the joy of God.

 2008/11/15 22:46Profile





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